Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Kampon ni Pakakak Award to Judge Voltaire Antonio Ylagan Rosales

Kampon ni Pakakak Award to Judge Voltaire Ylagan Rosales of Bauan, Batangas

This Award is given to a distinguished member of Bauan, Batangas.

The Kampon ni Pakakak is an association of distinguished members of the Bauan, Batangas community. Members include former governor and congressman Hermiland I. Mandanas, Vice President of the Philippines Jejomar Binay and many other well known businessmen and public servants.

The award given to Judge Voltaire Y. Rosales was for:

"For his courage, dedication and integrity in upholding judicial honor and independence. The Philippine Judiciary and the Kampon ni Pakakak are proud and blessed to have Judge Rosales in their rolls. Fearless, upright and evenhanded, Judge Rosales brought honor and prestige to our much maligned judicial system. The legacy of Judge Rosales will forever remain in the hearts of his colleagues in the Kampon Ni Pakakak and the Filipino People

Given this 29th day of December in the Year of our Lord 2004"

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Undermining Justice (an editorial by the Philippine Star on the assassination of Judge Voltaire Y. Rosales)



This is an editorial published on the Philippine Star seven days after my dad was assassinated. It brings tears to my eyes, but, if people acknowledge how hard our judges and justices work and sacrifice for our country (especially the very honest ones), I believe my Dad's sacrifice won't be for nothing.

Full credit to the Philippine Star.

Click on the photo for a larger picture.

Undermining Justice: an editorial by the Philippine Star on June 17, 2004 on the assassination of Tanauan, Batangas Executive Judge Voltaire Y. Rosales

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

If We Don't Avenge The Death of Judge Rosales, Then Justice Will Go to Hell In This Land! (an article by Max Soliven of the Philippine Star)



This is an article by Max Soliven of the Philippine Star. It was an editorial made on June 16, 2004 or six days after my dad was assassinated. I remember at this time, my head was in a blur. In fact, a lot of what happened to me between June 10, 2004 and a few years after is still a blur to me now. I do have some very sharp memories (some full of pain and some full of anger), but for the life of me, I don't remember reading this article.

I posted it just in case, in the eternal database of the internet, it is lost and so the article is saved somewhere.

Of course, I give full credit to the author Mr. Max V. Soliven of the Philippine Star. A link the the article can be found here.





If we don't avenge the murder of Judge Rosales, then justice will go to hell in this land!

 0  0 googleplus0  0 
Let's leave for the moment the pompous and portentous nonsense of the nitpicking "canvass" in Congress – with our politicians still debating and spouting platitudes for the benefit of TV mileage – and focus our attention on the harsh challenges and hard realities that threaten our society today.


No matter whose name finally pops up as winner in the final canvass, we’ve already elected a President. What we must know is whether we can defeat the crime and violence that threaten the everyday lives of Filipinos everywhere. That’s the real nitty-gritty.


Last Thursday, June 10, for example, a courageous judge – Executive Judge Voltaire Rosales, 48, of Tanauan, Batangas, was insolently shot to death by a motorcycle-riding assassin at almost high noon – just 100 meters away from the court room where he had just finished the cases of the day.


The unknown killer waited for the judge, who was driving his own car, to slow down at the hump, then opened fire. He shot Judge Butch Rosales in the arm, crippling him and causing him to slump forward, then shot again. This time the bullet pierced his victim’s neck veins, then another the judge’s head, just above the left ear. The assailant sped off, with a back-up vehicle tailing him (carrying no car plate) and remains at large.


Despite his fatal injuries, the stricken judge managed to open his car door and slumped to the ground. Police arrived minutes later and brought him to a nearby hospital. The hospital had no ambulance, and the municipality itself had only one (which was not available), so the judge’s wife, Atty. Nena Rosales, had to beg Batangas Governor Dodo Mandanas to help get an ambulance to transport the slain jurist’s body – and this was only managed three hours after his death.


The victim of this cold-blooded murder, Butch Rosales, was one of our country’s bravest and most accomplished judges. He had taken up grade school in Letran College, graduated from Bauan High School, gone to De La Salle University, and finally obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila College of Law.


He passed the Bar in 1981 with distinction, placing No. 25 with an average of 84.5 percent. After law school, he had worked as an associate for the De Santos, Balgos and Perez Law Office, then with his father-in-law, former Assemblyman Rafael "Paeng" Legaspi (Batasang Pambansa from 1984-85) as supervising staff officer. He was legal counsel to the UNIDO Aklan Chapter, then a Solicitor in the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) from 1986 to 1995. He was appointed Executive Judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 83, Tanauan, Batangas, in 1995. Now, he is dead.


Who had the motive to have him killed? There’s a short list for the police and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to consider.


Our lawmen must track down this vicious murderer, his confederates, and the mastermind who dispatched that "killer team" – and nail their hides to the wall. Otherwise, the butchers and bullies will know they can "get away with murder" and everything else with impunity. Abolish the death penalty? The death penalty was created for and must be imposed on such rats!


Judge Butch had a passion for his work and had dedicated his life to dispensing justice evenly and fairly for all. As a "heinous crime" judge, he heard cases involving rapists, drug dealers and manufacturers, and kidnap-for-ransom gangsters, aside from the regular load of RTC Judges such as theft, land-grabbing, and other civil cases. Rosales had the reputation of treating the rich, poor, the powerful and the powerless with equality and impartiality in his court. Efficient, hardworking and thoughtful in his deli-beration of cases, Rosales completed a record-breaking number of decisions per year.


As a heinous crime judge, Rosales handed out five death sentences in his short career, earning him the reputation of a tough "hukom bitay" judge (hanging Justice judge). The past and present cases he handled were, among others, (1) People of the Philippines versus German Agojo, who was sentenced to death for drug pushing; (2) Vs. Nestor Guelos et al. involving the slaying of Major Camacho, Chief of Police of Tanauan. Guelos was sentenced to 8 to 12 years imprisonment (3) vs. Millano Muji et al. (sentenced to death for kidnapping with homicide, robbery, and carnapping in the case concerning a son-in-law of business taipan John Gokongwei; (4) vs. Benito Simbahan involving illegal possession of prohibited drugs and two counts of murder; (5) vs. Romy Rose Agojo for violation of Section 2, Article 5, R.A. No. 9165, or drug pushing.


Who of those he had "angered" by dispensing justice had commanded Judge Rosales murdered?
* * *
What’s disgraceful, I think, is also the manner in this upright judge has been callously treated by his own Department of Justice (DOJ) after his assassination.


His body was brought to Funeraria Paz for the required autopsy conducted by the NBI. His sister-in-law, Dr. Carrie Legaspi, being a doctor, volunteered to be present at the autopsy.


The examination by the medico-legal physician was routinely conducted. That’s not the problem. The problem is that the DOJ "forgot" to send a flag – as a judge fallen in the service of his country deserves – to be draped on his coffin.


It took his sister-in-law, who’s also barangay captain of DasmariƱas Village (Makati), to bring a Philippine flag. When the judge’s widow, Nena, paid a call on the Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. early Monday morning or four days later, Dr. Legaspi candidly told the Chief Justice that he hadn’t even "given" Judge Rosales’ coffin a flag. Later in the day, the Chief Justice sent over a flag, and followed this up with a visit to the burol (wake) where he attended the Mass there, then promised to attend the burial Mass – which was yesterday.


The bereaved widow, Nena, a lawyer herself, says that Butch’s death "should be a wake-up call to our judiciary and our nation".


She complained about the current set-up. In the previous system, heinous crimes (she pointed out) were handled by all the judges, through what is known as the raffle system. Following "reforms", it was noted, there now seem to be specific courts wherein there is a family court and a heinous crime court, etc. Heinous crime courts handle civil cases on top of all the heinous crimes involving kidnappers, drug pushers, rapists, and murderers.


"The heinous crime judge then becomes the target of every evil element of our society, because they have the burden of giving judgement to the lawless elements who will kill anyone in their way!"


She noted that it’s been the practice for bodyguards to be requested by a threatened judge from the local mayor. However, the DOJ advised judges not to ask any "favors" from local mayors. "So the question is: Where do we stand? There is this vagueness or lack of clarity with regard to providing protection for judges who lay their lives on the line as they pass judgement on the lawless elements of society."


"In the previous system," Mrs. Nena Rosales recalled, "cases involving heinous crimes and other cases were brought to Manila for decision. This was changed to the concept of solving everything in the locality – to decongest court load, perhaps a good answer. But think of it: when a decision adversely made against one person versus another is made, somehow those in the locality react more personally. Therefore, each and every working hour, the judge is constantly in peril. There must be a better solution."
* * *
What I’d like to ask myself – and you must, too, is the burning question: Is the Philippines now the Colombia, or worse, the Sicily of Asia, where judges and prosecutors can be killed with immunity?


RTC Judge Voltaire "Butch" Rosales is the fourth RTC judge slain in the past three years!


Here’s the score:


In October 2001, Ilocos Norte RTC Judge Ariston Rubio was ambushed along the national highway in Batac. Six months after Judge Rubio, Compostela Valley RTC Judge Eugenio Valles was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding killers.


In September 2002, Tayug (Pangasinan) RTC Judge Oscar Uzon also met the same fate.


The murders of Judges Rubio, Valles and Uzon are unsolved up to now. Will the murder of Judge Rosales also be unsolved by the NBI and the PNP.


Though it is the unwritten law of vendetta that "omerta" or silence must rule in Sicily, that notorious Mafia-enclave, witnesses have still come forth and many killers and masterminds responsible for the assassination of judges and prosecutors have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted by courageous magistrates in Palermo.


In sad contrast with the murders of our judges remaining unsolved, several trial court judges (especially those presiding over heinous crimes-designated courts) may now fear for their lives. Among the cases pending before these heinous crimes courts are drug-related cases.


It is not only trial court judges who have been threatened.


Members of the Supreme Court have also been threatened by various means. One member of the High Court had his van and car "acid bombed". When acid was thrown at his car by a motorcycle-riding man, the justice was in the vehicle on his way home. The message delivered was clear. Those behind the acid-throwing were "announcing" they could get the justice anytime they want.


Another member of the Court was threatened by means of a funeral wreath delivered early in the morning at the gate of his house. The "message" to this justice was that he should rule favorably on a high-profile case assigned to him.


To their credit, the members of the High Court though threatened were not cowed. They resolved the cases assigned to them without fear, strictly in accordance with law.


Those behind the assassination of judges have taken the law into their own blood-stain hands. They have arrogated unto themselves the power to "discipline" members of the judiciary with the bullet.


We must get the killers of those four judges! But we must begin with bagging, and mercilessly meting out justice, to the murderers of Judge Butch Rosales.


This is imperative if we are to keep our society safe and sane!

Monday, July 22, 2013

Incorruptible Judge Gets Ka Pepe Diokno Award


A long overdue post (sorry dad!). This was an article released a year after my Dad was killed.

The original link to the Philstar.com webpage can be found here (Click me!) The photos are not posted on the site but here's an excerpt of the text:



by Joanne Ramirez Tuesday March 8, 2005 Incorruptible Judge Voltaire Y. Rosales gets Pepe Diokno Award (Click on the photo for a larger picture)

"His brain was splattered on the ground. They shot him on the head to show their hatred at the fact that he could not be controlled, that he had his own mind," lawyer Filomena "NenaRosales, widow of Batangas Judge Voltaire "ButchRosales, once painfully recalled in a press interview. Butch, a heinous-crime judge, was mercilessly shot by motorcycle-riding gunmen on June 10 last year. He was on his way home from work.


We are sure Nena would have rather been an ordinary wife than the widow of a hero. But it may give her consolation that Butch’s courageous work has not been forgotten. Last week, Butch was posthumously conferred the first "Ka Pepe Diokno Award" as a champion of human rights. The award was established by the De La Salle Professional Schools, Inc. Graduate School of Business (DLS-PSI-GSB), which marked another milestone with the establishment also of the Jose W. Diokno Distinguished Professorial Chair in Business Law and Human Rights.


Launched at the DLS-PSI GSB RCBC Campus in Makati City, the professorial chair was established in honor of Senator Diokno’s remarkable achievements in his political career. The late senator is best remembered as a street parliamentarian during martial law days, who fought for the preservation of justice and democracy in the Philippines. Most of all, Senator Diokno made a mark as a human rights advocate and for benchmarking the humanized system of taxation in the country."



Sunday, July 21, 2013

Happy Happy Birthday to my dear second mom, Dra Carrie Legaspi Vicerra MD !

Barangay Captain of Dasmarinas Village Ma Encarnacion "Carrie" Legaspi with her kagawads and SK Chairman


Just a happy whole hearted happy birthday greet to my second mom, my tita (auntie) Carrie Legaspi Vicerra!

More popularly known as Dra Carrie Legaspi, Tita was the Barangay Captain of Dasmarinas Village, Makati City.

former Dasmarinas Village Barangay Captain Doctor Ma Encarnacion "Carrie" R Legaspi M.D.


Tita, who is a practicing dermatologist has her own clinic. Visit her at http://www.totalskincareph.com I can personally vouch that she's malambing (warm / loving) but straight to the point. She takes care of all her patients and makes it a personal commitment to make every patient feel like they're taken care of like family.


Why do I love her? Cause she's a tough cookie with the guts and fortitude to  do what has to be done because it's right.

Happy birthday Tita! Love you and thank you for always being there for me.

Doctor, leader, and loving tita (aunt)





Saturday, July 20, 2013

Happy Birthday To My Dear Mom, Attorney / Barangay Captain Ma Filomena Legaspi Rosales !



Happy Birthday to my mom, Dasmarinas Village, Makati Barangay Captain / Chairman Ma Filomena Legaspi Rosales!

Thanks for all the hard work you've done for us. I know it is not easy with dad gone, but you deserve credit for being not just a great family mom, but a person for others!

Check out the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper clipping below. As part of the Ateneo Law Alumni Association Inc (ALAAI) and the Ateneo Law Board of Advisors, mom brought together the Santuario de San Antonio, Forbes Park ministry, the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) and the Ateneo Law School into a partnership where law students do legwork for PAO to lighten their load in protecting the underprivileged.





Mom, you've not only helped our family grow, but you've helped others survive the rough world we live in. Kudos to you, we love you!

ShareThis